A sequential selective chemical degradation has been performed on the kerogen from the Nenjiang Formation of the southern Songliao Basin by using a series of mild chemical degradations (alkaline hydrolysis, cleavage of ether-bonds and sulfur-bonds, and ruthenium tetroxide (RuO4) oxidation). Subsequently, the GC-MS analyses are carried out on different degradation products. The results show that chemical degradations can release a great number of GC/MS-determinable biomarkers from insoluble kerogen, such as, alkaline hydrolysis products mainly comprise n-alkanes, fatty acids and alkanols; thiophene compounds are predominantly ether-bound to kerogen matrix; the products from the cleavage of sulfur-sulfur and sulfur-carbon bonds in the kerogen include fatty acids, alkanols and some n-alkanes with high carbon numbers; RuO4 oxidation products are predominantly monocarboxylic acids and α,ω-dicarboxylic acids. The distributions of main degradation products indicate that organic matter in this kerogen is predominantly derived from algae and bacteria, and that small amounts of high plant-derived organic matter are possibly combined into kerogen matrix at the late stage by sulfur bonds and other means. This study will provide an important approach for further discussing sources of organic matter in source rocks and their depositional paleoenvironments.
Oil cracking gas plays an important role in the resources of natural gas in the basins with high and over mature marine source rocks in China. The prediction of the oil cracking gas resources becomes nec-essary and urgent in the gas exploration in these basins. A marine crude oil sample was pyrolyzed using sealed gold tubes system. The pyrolysates including gas,liquid and solid were quantitatively analyzed. Based on the pyrolysis data and kinetic calculation,the yield correlativity among gas,liquid and solid products was regressed with high correlative coefficients to establish a prediction model suitable for the resource estimation of oil cracking gas. The verification formula for this model was also established on the principle of mass conservation. The affecting factors and the application precondi-tions of this prediction model were discussed. This model would enlighten and provide some new ideas for the resource assessment of natural gas in the high and over mature marine carbonate source rock areas in China. It is expected to be valuable in gas exploration.
WANG TongShanGENG AnSongXIONG YongQiangGENG XinHua
